Naimat Khan
KARACHI: Senior Pakistan People’s Party stalwart and speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani will face a NAB inquiry for holding assets beyond his means, it emerged after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) recovered a large sum of cash, gold bars, gold jewelry and prize bonds from the residence of Ramzan Solangi, who is personal assistant to the Sindh local government (LG) secretary here on Thursday.
Solangi was arrested from his office a day earlier.
NAB discovered the valuables after Solangi told the team that arrested him that they will be able to find the assets at his residence. According to reports, the valuables include Rs31.5 million in cash, prize bonds worth Rs1.8 million, gold bars worth 100 tolas, gold jewellery, precious watches and other valuables.
NAB learned during preliminary interrogations that Solangi had been collecting millions of rupees as monthly bribes from various Departmental heads.
The development was followed by the launch of an investigation against Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani, who is accused of holding assets beyond his means.
NAB Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal also decided to investigate the matter of the alleged irregularities in the award of contracts by Durrani and Sindh Assembly Secretary Ghulam Muhammad Farooq during construction of the new assembly building.
The incidents prompted the secretary and minister of the Sindh local government to immediately call on chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, who decried NAB for being selective and discriminate.
Ramzan Awan, the Local Government Secretary, and Jam Khan Shoro, the Local Government Minister, met Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and informed him of the recent surprise NAB-led raid carried out at the local government offices.
During that meeting it emerged that NAB officials took his phone during the raid which wasn’t returned He also explained to the CM Sindh that the institution’s officials took into custody several key records and files during their operation, the sources said.
Addressing Sindh Assembly chief minister expressed reservations over raids conducted by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
“NAB calls for placing former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s name on the Exit Control List (ECL) but the federal government refuses to. However, Sharjeel Memon was placed on the ECL despite being abroad,” Shah said while addressing the media outside Sindh Assembly on Thursday.
